What is a Employment & Job Scams?
How It Works — Step by Step
- Fake job posting appears on LinkedIn, Indeed, or via direct message/email
- The position offers high pay for easy work: 'Data entry from home, $50/hour,' 'Package handler, flexible hours'
- Interview process is minimal or conducted entirely via text/chat
- Victim is 'hired' and asked to pay for background checks, equipment, training, or certification
- Alternatively: victim receives a check, deposits it, buys gift cards or crypto and sends — check later bounces leaving victim liable
- Task-based scams: victim is given 'tasks' (liking posts, completing reviews) and shown fake earnings — then asked to make deposits to unlock payments
Top Countries (Victims)
Top Platforms Used
⚠️ Warning Signs
- Unsolicited job offer via WhatsApp, Telegram, or text message
- Job requires little to no experience but offers very high pay
- Interview conducted entirely via chat or only one very brief call
- Asked to pay upfront fees for anything
- Asked to receive and forward money (money mule recruitment)
- Company has no verifiable online presence
- Offer letter with grammar errors or unusual formatting
✅ How to Protect Yourself
- Research the company independently — look up their actual website and call their listed number
- Legitimate employers never ask you to pay for a job
- Never deposit a check and send money — this is always a scam
- Verify the job listing on the company's official website
- Be suspicious of any job found through unsolicited messages
- If asked to complete 'tasks' for payment that require depositing money, it's a scam
Real Cases from Our Database
Job scam? Position at Cornerstone Financial Solutions. [removed]...
[US]. Not sure if this is a job scam. Not sure if this was a scam or not. I'm trying to find work and was contacted by a company fora job that sounds like it pays way too well. ...
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Who. The company is pasture bioscience. ...
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What. They emailed me and then I did a very rough interview. It was a teams chat with a woman who wasn't the person on the id. I questioned and they said it was their bosses chat. ...
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The interview consisted of my filling out some questionnaires. Important details I refused. ...
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To...
Job scam? Company seems to be legit but I don’t think these guys are. I was contacted via text and asked to move to Teams for further communication. I thought it was strange that at one point the pers...
Help please!!!!!Is this a job scam? Tech Mahindra fresher hiring process! [removed]...
Spotlight Over the City Behance Employment Scam - https://www.spotlightoverthecity.com/ [removed]...
WARNING: I lost thousands in a TikTok/WhatsApp task scam. Please learn from my mistake. www.asosofficialshop.com [removed]...
📋 Where to Report Employment & Job Scams
- FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov)
- FBI IC3 (ic3.gov)
- Job platform where ad was posted
- Local law enforcement